Soncy car dealership wins preliminary OK for expansion

An Amarillo car dealership that fought a 2007 zoning battle to locate on Soncy Road now has preliminary city approval to expand.

The Amarillo Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday approved a rezoning request from Pete’s Car Smart Kia that will allow the dealership at 4701 S. Soncy Road to spread north toward 45th Avenue. The measure passed in a 4-0 planning panel vote; three members did not attend Monday’s session.

Zoning ordinances approved at the planning commission level must subsequently be passed twice by the Amarillo City Commission to be enacted. The matter likely will be on the City Commission’s March 6 agenda.

Raw land next door to the north of Pete’s Car Smart currently is zoned for general retail development, according to a report by city planning staff. Dealership owner Pete Vaughan has applied for planned-development zoning for the tract so he can expand his new- and used-car sales business.

The city allows auto dealerships in light-commercial zoning. But a car-sales lot also could be allowed if the city grants planned-development zoning, a type of zoning that gives the city control over some aspects of a business site — lighting, hours of operation, signs and screening, for example — to minimize impact on surrounding properties.

Pete’s Car Smart already operates under planned-development restrictions governing its business hours and other site characteristics.

No one spoke either for or against the dealership’s zoning request.

The city notified owners of property within 200 feet of the tract in question about the dealership’s application, in accordance with state law. Residences at The Colonies lie an estimated 600 feet east of the dealership, Planning Director Kelley Shaw said Monday.

In 2007, the dealership narrowly won approval, in a 2-1 vote, from the Planning and Zoning Commission to locate there, despite opposition from owners of homes in The Colonies, neighborhood developer Rockrose Group, and the nearby Church of Christ at The Colonies. Opposition continued at the City Commission level, but the zoning passed there, too.

Pete’s Car Smart was the third dealership looking to set up shop on Soncy Road south of Southwest 45th Avenue. Two others already had opened on the east side of Soncy.

Vaughan and private investors together purchased 12 acres, with the original intent being to surround the Kia dealership on three sides — east, north and south, with a buffer of shops, restaurants and offices, said commercial real estate broker Joe Bob McCartt, who spoke on Vaughan’s behalf in 2007.

The planned-development zoning that currently governs the dealership imposes standards on the dealership’s look, landscaping, signs and operations. Planned-development zoning standards being considered for the expansion tract are similar, Shaw said.